What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Solder connections

rockwoodrv9 said:
Im not posting this to get into the solder - crimp war, but mostly for the video showing how the solder splicing connectors are made. I have tried several on grounding connections with little success. The video makes it look so easy!

https://awesales.com/products/nec-w...KNIb7eDZIr7DiVQaRdyt1YccIzZrY9bfcdLiGaL5V7g10
Click to expand...

Love solder sleeves. My primary use for them is adding drain wires to shielded cable. Was super easy and very durable. What problems did you have with them?
 
Solder Sleeves

The solder sleeves shown in the video you linked look like the import (immitation) solder sleeves. Have you tried using the airworthy (military spec) solder sleeves made by Raychem or Sumitomo (and sold by Steinair and Aircraft Spruce)?
 
Solder sleeves

Totally agree - solder sleeves are very useful. I found some slight differences between the "name brand" and the cheap ebay ones, and would recommend using the brand names. They are kind of pricey, but in the big scheme of things, not much.

I bought some with the pigtail and some without - the pigtail is really not that useful in my opinion - just a small #22 that's got one end already melted into the solder.
 
Rocky, notice that heat gun had a small outlet, and also don't even try a hair dryer. I set my heat gun to 800F to do my sleeves. YTMV (your temp may vary.)

Stein has a vid like this too.
 
I used some of these connectors last summer when I put in ADS-B in and out, the auto-pilot control module, and the knob module. They worked great.
 
Failure

In the three years since I installed my AFS system, I have had one failure. It involved a solder sleeve. Might have been my technique, who knows.
 
The only time I actually used them was on the grounding shield for my strobe lights. I did purchase them from Stein. I wasn't suggesting these were top quality - only that the video I thought was pretty good.

I was able to make the shielding ground connection, after about 5 times trying!
I was using a small torch and I think it was just too hot. The heat gun was what made it successful.

Brantel - I was going to use the description "sleeves", but I couldnt spell it close enough to post it!! Ha!!
 
Yep, heat guns are the only way to do these right. You got to get em hot enough to make the solder flow and not too hot to burn or melt the insulation. You can actually see the solder flow at just the right temp.
 
Eutectic tin/lead solder melts at 183 C, or about 362 F. Someone said they set their heat gun to 800 F...that seems *way* too high for any solder used for electronics, even eutectic ones that don't use lead...

Just sayin'... ;)
 
Garmin has some really nice videos posted on You Tube demonstrating several methods of terminating and daisy chaining shielded wire.
 
RV7A Flyer said:
Eutectic tin/lead solder melts at 183 C, or about 362 F. Someone said they set their heat gun to 800 F...that seems *way* too high for any solder used for electronics, even eutectic ones that don't use lead...

Just sayin'... ;)
Click to expand...

That was me, maybe it was because it really was not at temp yet. It takes a little time to reach the set temp. Doesn't the sleeve temp rise asymptotically to the gas temp? It was taking a very long time and heating every thing else in the vicinity, it was not on a bench.

Sounds like some experimentation is in order to be sure ones specific gun is set correctly.
 
Just because the gun is set to 800f, don?t assume the solder is ever going to get that hot. Heat transfer will fall off drastically as the air gap increases... the. There is the insulating effect of the heat shrink...
 
I run my gun at 900deg F and it works great. Heat it long enough to get the solder to flow and your done. I also made a wrap around thing to put on the end of my heat gun that forces the hot air all around the heat shrink or the solder sleeve. Works even better!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top